Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. U.S. Department of the Interior

In a case in Montana federal district court challenging a right-of-way and a temporary use permit for the Keystone XL pipeline project, two tribes voluntarily dismissed the action without prejudice.

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe and Fort Belknap Indian Community filed a new lawsuit challenging a right-of-way granted in 2020 by BLM for the Keystone XL Pipeline to cross more than 45 miles of federally administered land in Montana. The plaintiff tribes asserted that BLM failed to analyze and uphold the United States’ treaty obligations and failed to analyze the pipeline’s impact on their territories and particularly their water resources and lands held in trust. They alleged that they had identified a number of other issues during the NEPA process—including failure to conduct an adequate climate change analysis—but that the final supplemental environmental impact statement did not remedy these issues. They asserted five causes of action: a claim under NEPA and the Administrative Procedure Act; breaches of the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty, the 1855 Lame Bull Treaty, the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty; and a failure to adhere to the Department of the Interior’s tribal consultation policies.